#victor-wembanyama

#victor-wembanyama

Victor Wembanyama became the first player in decades to record 12 blocks in a playoff game, helping the Timberwolves escape a close Game 1 win.

Currently sitting at 49-18 and trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder by just three games for the top spot in the Western Conference, San Antonio is on a mission to secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Their balanced attack, which ranks top-five in both offensive and defensive rating, has made them a nightmare for mid-tier teams.

The Celtics were fairly clear about their strategy in defending the Spurs superstar: Give up threes rather than twos and hope he can't shoot you out of the game. The strategy makes some sense - Wembanyama is solid, but he's only making 35 percent of his 3-point attempts this year. Joe Mazzulla loves to try to manipulate the math in his favor, and when part of the equation is a 7-foot-4 center that can do a little bit of everything offensively, the numbers become more difficult to square.

"Nanterre shaped me as a player and as a man," Wembanyama said in a statement on Tuesday. "I want to help make it a benchmark club that is ambitious, inclusive and true to its values in the long term." The club did not reveal how much he invested. Executives said his stake would help fund training programmes and youth projects.

On Thursday night, I finally got to see Victor Wembanyama, and although he had a pedestrian game by his own standards-12 points, eight rebounds, no threes-it was still a riveting experience. The game, a 126-110 San Antonio win, was moments of Wembanyama doing something, or trying to do something, interrupted by some bullshit I wasn't there to see.

Well, if it wasn't already a super talent advantage for Team World going into the NBA All-Star Game, the height advantage was definitely real. Anthony Edwards had no chance trying to win the tip over the 7'4″ Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama. Not to mention, three-time league MVP and 6'11" big man Nikola Jokić was starting right alongside him. And Wemby loves playing in these games. He came out hot, a dunk, a three, and a block over Jalen Duren, stamping out any misconceptions that "height" doesn't mean "heart." He set the pace.